Star Spangled Heart
by TrickPhotography
Summary: Steve Rogers and his girl Dr. Emily Harthorn are happy with their lot. Both are riding a high note at work (not that there isn't tension), Steve's identity as Captain America is still unknown, and their relationship remains undiscovered by the general public. But as they prepare to move on to the next stage in their lives, the past comes back to haunt them. Rated M as a precaution
1. Prologue

**Author's Note:** Hi everyone! Thanks for following this over from 'Change is Everything'. I know I said that reading 'Starry Eyed Again' was a suggestion, but I'm going to reinforce that with letting you know those one-shots got a lot more plot driven that I'd intended and are kind of necessary to understand this story.

Also, I wanted to let you know a bit about how this is going to work - updates wise. At the moment, I'm winding up my final semester at one school and preparing to move across country to start a PhD program at another school (long story short, I'm not happy where I am and was accepted at a much better program). At the same time, I'm also working full time and about to start the university Orientation season. What I'm attempting to say is be patient with me please. I write for fun and any 'UPDATE NOW!' comments make me feel like a bit of a failure because at that point I just want to tell you how the story ends and wash my hands of it all. Not saying I don't appreciate excitement, but just keep in mind that writing is a hobby.

Ok, now that those disclaimers are out of the way, please enjoy. I wanted to get something out before everyone sees Winter Soldier (I'm going Thursday with my office, woohoo!). While I don't want to put any spoilers out there, please be aware that I'm going to be blending MCU (Phase 1 and Phase 2) and drawing from the comic books. This chapter, as well as the next two chapters should be okay without seeing the movie. I'll post at the top of the story if that changes.

Once again, thank you for reading and please let me know what you think!

* * *

Prologue

_Like an apple on a tree_

_Hiding out behind the leaves_

_I was difficult to reach_

_But you picked me_

_Like a shell upon a beach_

_Just another pretty piece_

_I was difficult to see_

_But you picked me_

_Yeah, you picked me_

_You Picked Me by A Fine Frenzy_

* * *

Steve Rogers pulled his bike to the side of the road and cut the engine. After putting the kickstand in place, he stood up, smoothed down his hair, and straightened his jacket before walking onto the Empire State University campus. A few people were milling about, but for the most part the campus was empty with students in the library or their classes.

A quick glance at his watch made Steve speed up his pace. He'd meant to get back earlier but traffic had been horrible. Still, he had ten minutes until he was absolutely too late. And even then, it wasn't the end of the world.

He strode into the building and bypassed the elevator, taking the stairs two at a time. On the second floor, he took a left and went down the hallway, pulling the door open quietly.

"-and as we all know today, the Eastern Front was to be the site of some of the most heinous human rights violations the world has ever seen," Steve heard as he slipped into the classroom. The lights in the front of the auditorium were dimmed, and she was turned away from the door, flipping through her slideshow. He slipped into an empty back seat and settled in, a smile spreading across his face as Dr. Emily Harthorn turned around to face the class.

Steve loved watching his girl lecture.

"And we'll be going in depth with some of those next week – Yes?" She paused when a student raised their hand.

"Did Captain America serve on the Eastern front?" the guy asked. With a fixed smile, Em turned and tapped the clicker against her hip as if gathering her thoughts, and Steve smirked. She knew that he had because he'd told her.

"There is evidence to suggest that Captain Rogers was present at some concentration camp liberations. What he might have been doing there is not currently known as those records are classified by the Department of Defense. Like I was saying, next week – Yes?" This time it was a female student who'd raised her hand.

"So, uh, have you met him?" Emily took a deep breath and glanced up at the ceiling, an exasperated look playing on her face. Steve, however, smirked and leaned forward in his seat, forearms on his thighs, interested in what she was going to say.

"No, I haven't met Captain America. Now, next week we're going to be discussing Nazi officer Dr. Josef Mengele and his twin experiments in Auschwitz. Fair warning, it's a disturbing topic. Please do the reading and post on the BlackBoard discussion thread, and I'll see you on Monday."

It was suddenly very noisy as Emily's students gathered their things and swarmed towards the exit. A few fought against the stream and made their way towards her while Steve stayed put, ignoring the looks some of the people gave him. When only one student was left in the room, he pushed out of the seat and walked down the steps towards her.

" – you just need to bring a doctor's note and I'll let you make up the quiz in my office," Emily said as her eyes darted over to him. Her eyebrow shot up as she tried to suppress a smile.

"Thanks Dr. Harthorn," the girl nodded before hitching her bag higher on her shoulder. "See you Monday."

"Have a good weekend, Gwen," Em smiled. She and Steve watched as the girl turned and bounced up the steps and out of the classroom. As soon as the door slammed shut behind her, Emily wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down enough to kiss him. "Hi," she said against his lips as his hands settled on her hips.

"Hi," he replied, resting his forehead against hers before teasing, "So you've never met Captain America?" She laughed, hands sliding down to grasp his biceps.

"Can't say I've been lucky enough," she smirked, cocking an eyebrow. "Too bad, though, because he's got a _great_ ass."

"Ha," he barked, giving her a crooked smile. Em slid her hands further down his arms, and he tensed as she slipped under his jacket to wrapped around his waist. When her fingers started to move up his back, he caught what she was doing – looking for the subtle bump of a bandage under his clothes. "I'm fine," Steve said, catching her hands and brushing his lips across her knuckles.

"Just checking," she sighed.

"Told you, it was just an intel run. You done for the day?"

"Pretty much. I was going to do a bit of research for my article but I could head home." Em stepped out of his grasp and walked to the desk to gather her things.

"Did you take the train?"

"Yeah." Steve didn't take her hand as they walked out of the auditorium because Em liked to keep it professional where she could run into her students. There were a few people in the stairwell with them as they walked up to the fourth floor; once there Steve nodded to some of her co-workers who recognized him.

"Anything interesting happen while I was away?" he asked as they stepped into her office and closed the door behind them.

"Well, I found one of Tony's robots on our floor again and the realtor said that she found another few apartments for us but they're way out of our price range – "

"At this point, I'd be willing to pay more," Steve smirked.

"We said 50/50," Em reminded him. "But if it take much longer to find somewhere then I might cave on that."

"Hey," he said, stopping her as she moved to grab her bag. "I'm sorry about all this."

Emily tossed her blazer onto the desk before reaching up and cupping Steve's face, and ran her thumbs across the stubble on his cheek. "Saving lives is more important than apartment hunting. I'm just ranting."

"I know, but I promised you I'd find a place before you got back from – " he was cut off when Em stood on her toes and kissed him. Steve wrapped his arms around her, holding her in place as she pulled away.

"We're gonna find a place. And until then, we just need to have another discussion with JARVIS about allowing rogue experiments on our floor."

"I love you, you know that?" he said as his hands slid lower over the curve of her ass.

"No, had no idea," she smirked. Chuckling, Steve guided her back until her thighs hit the side of the desk, and lifted her onto it. "Hmmm…" Em hummed, cocking an eyebrow before he kissed her again. "You sure everything's alright?"

"Everything's great," he assured her, nudging aside the collar of her shirt to kiss her neck. "Just really missed you."

"Ah," she nodded as he pressed his lips to the hinge of her jaw before dragging his nose across her cheek and reclaiming her mouth. "Babe?" Em said when they came up for air. "Babe."

"Huh?"

"Tell me what's wrong," Emily demanded.

"Nothing's wrong, Sweetheart!" Steve chuckled, but tensed when her hands slipped under his coat to settle on his hips.

"Is it S.H.I.E.L.D.? Did they do something to piss you off again?"

"Not today, but then again the day's not over, so… Hey!" he chuckled when she punched his shoulder.

"If I get your shirt off and find out you were stabbed or shot – so help me God, Steve, if you jumped out of another plane without a parachute – "

"It's nothing like that," he assured her.

"So there is something!"

"It's nothing, Emily." She narrowed her eyes infinitesimally, so he sighed and dropped his hands to her thighs while looking her square in the eye. "I promise. It was a milk run. Everything's okay."

"It had better be," she threatened.

Steve laughed and leaned forward to kiss her, but Emily turned at the last minute so his lips ended up on her cheek. "Hmm," he muttered, "playing hard to get?"

"Not sure what you're talking about," Em shrugged, pushing against his chest so that he took a step back. She slid off her desk and looked up to meet his gaze before winking. "So you up for dinner in the penthouse tonight?"

"Do we have to?" he asked, not moving as she turned to retrieve her blazer. He took it and held it so that Em could slip it on. "I thought we could go out for dinner…maybe Italian."

"Pepper's got a private chef coming in and extended an invitation. Apparently a few beneficiaries of Tony's scholarship are coming over and she wanted some back up on making sure nothing got too out of hand." Steve pressed his lips together; it wasn't exactly how he'd pictured his night.

"I guess," he said after a beat. "Dinner tomorrow?"

"Dinner tomorrow," she agreed, checking her purse for her keys before shouldering it.

Once out of the building, Emily reached over and took his hand, squeezing it gently as they walked towards the edge of campus.

OOO

"So," Em said as she unbuttoned her slacks and slid down the zipper. "I had my doctor's appointment today."

"Oh yeah," Steve said from where he had collapsed onto the bed, legs dangled over the edge. "How'd it go?"

"Well, they said that everything looks good and that, now that I'm back on a normal cycle, it'd be okay for me to start taking birth control again."

"That's great, Sweetheart," he said, propping up on his elbows to watch her slide on her jeans and toss her slacks on top of the dresser. When she turned back to the bed, she cocked an eyebrow and smirked at the shoes he'd toed off before picking them up and tossing them in the vicinity of their closet. He had the good sense to give her an apologetic smile after she'd told him a million times not to leave his shoes lying about.

"Well," Emily said, kneeling on the edge of the bed before stretching out beside him on her stomach. "That's kind of something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Yeah?" he asked, turning and placing a hand on her lower back.

"Yeah," she bit her lower lip and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I wanted to see what you thought...thought about me not going back on the Pill."

"What d'ya mean?" Steve asked, his eyebrows furrowing. "Are you thinking about something else?" While he hadn't spent too much time reading up on that particular subject, he'd seen enough commercials on TV to know there were options.

"No, that's not what I'm asking. I'm asking," Emily ducked her head and let out a breath before shyly meeting his gaze. "I'm asking what you think about the possibility of not actually trying, but not _not_ trying, to, um, have a baby."

Steve sat up quickly, a bit startled. Em mimicked his actions, crossing her legs and grabbing a pillow to hug to her chest. "What?"

"If you were okay with it and we decided to not _not_ try, we wouldn't exactly be _trying_." Her fingers were digging into the pillow and he could tell she was fighting the urge to get off the bed and move closer to the wall, far enough away from him to feel comfortable with the conversation. "Because that's too much pressure. We'd just, uh, stop trying to keep it from happening?" Em said as though it were a question.

"I thought you said you wanted to wait," Steve said. "You said a year of dating before we got married, and a year of being married before having kids."

"I did," she nodded, hugging the pillow tighter. "But," she shrugged. "I just...I don't want to miss the window of opportunity because of some stupid rule I made when I was 23. A lot's changed since then, and I kind of think we've been through a hell of a lot given how long we've been together."

"But right before you went to Europe you said you weren't ready to have kids."

A small 'v' appeared between Emily's eyebrows, and Steve had to resist the urge to reach over and smooth it; she didn't like to be touched when emotionally uncomfortable. "I didn't, then. But you'd be surprised how much thinking you can get done on a train, and…I kept looking at these apartments the realtor emailed us with and thinking about all of the empty space for kids rooms. And then it turned into, well, how would we decorate them, and would it even make sense to set up a spare bedroom for a year? Because what if we got pregnant right away after a year? And Jesus, what if we didn't? What if I couldn't get pregnant and I wasted time twiddling my thumbs because of the stupid rule and," she paused and blinked back the tears that had gathered in her eyes before taking a deep breath. "Sorry, I don't want my mental freak out influencing your answer. So if you want to wait, I'll be okay with it."

"It's not that, I'm just...Jesus, Emily, why didn't you say something before?" he sighed. "Did the doctor say something?"

"No, I swear everything's fine. But like I said, I don't want to look back later and regret not at least giving us more time to, you know...conceive naturally," she shrugged again. "If I start taking the pills again, we're going to have to wait for it to get out of my system and that could take months." He looked at her for a long moment before sighing and letting his head drop. "We don't have to," she said softly, trying to hide the hurt ringing in her voice.

"Hey," Steve said, hesitating a moment before reaching up to cup her cheek. She tensed slightly and kept looking down at the pillow until he tipped her chin up. "I didn't mean to upset you, I just don't want this to be a rash decision."

"It's not."

"So you're saying if you found out you were pregnant right now, you'd be completely fine with it?" he asked, hand dropping to her knee.

"I'd be a bit shocked, but yeah," Em nodded. "I'd be a bit more than fine."

"Even though we're not married, have only known each other for a year and some change, and been together for about a year?"

"Absolutely." When he raised his eyebrows, she huffed. "Ok, I'd be a bit anxious about everything, but I'd still be really happy and I think we could do it."

"It's not that I don't think we can do it, I just don't want you to regret it later on," he said. "Is it...something we need to figure out right away?"

"No," Em pouted. "I haven't filled the prescription yet and I've got to wait until my cycle starts again to start taking the pills."

"Okay, so we have until then to make a decision. So can we take the…" he gave her a look that made her sigh.

"Two weeks, give or take a few days."

"Two weeks," he nodded, "to decide?"

"I guess. Just," Emily sighed, "just think about it, okay?"

"I will," Steve assured her before wrapping a hand around the back of her neck and pulling her closer. She resisted slightly before giving in, placing one hand on his thigh as he kissed her. "Love you, Sweetheart."

"_Je t'aime trop_." The corner of his mouth twitched up as he pulled the pillow from her grasp and tossed it towards the head of the bed and pulled her into his lap. Caught off guard by the sudden movement, Emily grasped his shirt tightly, afraid that she'd slip on to the floor.

Chuckling, Steve's hand rested on her hip as she settled herself, an arm thrown around his shoulders. "So the doctor said everything was okay?"

"Yup. Said that I'm okay to go back to my general practitioner for routine stuff, but that if we're having any difficulty, to come back."

"You know," Steve said, raising an eyebrow, "we haven't even talked about if my uh...if we were gonna have to think about if the serum affected anything."

"Are you insinuating that you might have super sperm?" Em asked, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"I might have super sperm," he chuckled, squeezing her thigh. "I kind of asked Dr. Flemming about it a while ago, but he wasn't able to give me a straight answer."

"Maybe it's something we should look into? Regardless of what we choose right now."

"That's not a bad idea. S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't have - "

"I'd like to keep S.H.I.E.L.D. out of this as much as possible," Em said quickly.

"'Course," he nodded. "But we will have to think about security concerns and - "

"Dr. Harthorn," JARVIS said, cutting Steve off. The two looked at one another before she looked at the ceiling out of habit.

"Yes?"

"Ms. Potts is on the line. Shall I patch her through?"

"Okay."

"Em?" Pepper's voice suddenly flooded their bedroom.

"Steve's here too," Em said quickly.

"Hi Pepper."

"Oh you're back! I trust everything went well."

"Yup," Steve nodded, looking at Emily as though to assure her as well. "Everything ran smoothly."

"Perfect," Pepper chuckled. "You're coming up for dinner, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it."

"Thank god; maybe you can keep Tony from doing something stupid with these engineering students."

"I'll do my best," Steve laughed; they all knew that if Tony wanted to do something, the rest be damned.

"That's all I can ask for. But Em, I've got a favor to ask."

"Sure. What's up?" Em asked.

"The catering staff is downstairs and Tony was supposed to let them up, but he's not answering his phone and has his lab on lockdown so - "

"I'll bring them up," she smirked, standing as she said so.

"Thank you! They should be able to set up without supervision but let them know I'll be there shortly." Pepper gave a short huff of frustration before saying, "I'd be there now if it weren't for this incompetent…" they heard her take a deep breath. "Would you mind opening a bottle of red for me and letting it breathe?"

"That bad?"

"That bad," Pepper echoed.

"On it. See you in a bit." Emily stared at the ceiling for a moment, making sure that the call had actually disconnected before sighing and rolling her shoulders. "Guess I'm heading downstairs."

"Hey," Steve said, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her to stand between his legs, "you okay?"

"Can't say that I got the answer I wanted," she shrugged, carding her fingers through his hair. "But if you're at least willing to think about it - "

"I just want to make sure this isn't - "

"Something I'd regret."

"- A spur of the moment decision. Because if we did decide to try and…" his hands shifted down to frame her hips as a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, "we couldn't change our minds back."

"Kinda the point, babe," Em smiled before leaning down and slanting her lips over his. "Promise me you'll think about it?"

"I will if you do too."

"I will. Now," she took a step back and winked, "I've gotta go let the people in or it'll be midnight before we eat."

"Don't forget the wine," he reminded her as she slipped on her flats.

"I never forget wine," she tossed over her shoulder as she exited the room.

Steve waited until he heard the swoosh of the elevator doors closing, and then waited another minute to make sure that Emily wasn't going to come back in. Confident that he was alone, he jumped up and grabbed his jacket, shoving his hand into the pocket. His fist closed around a small box and Steve grinned before looking around for a place to hide it, finally shoving it in his go-bag.

OOO

_Traffic had been lighter than he'd anticipated, so Steve had driven around town to kill time before heading over. He'd wanted to give them some time to get home from work and relax before springing himself upon them._

_Still, the extra time did nothing for his nerves. _

_As he pulled into the driveway, he saw Caroline peaking out from the kitchen window. Moments later the front door was thrown open and Emily's mother stood there, grinning at him. "Steve! What're you doing here?"_

"_Ma'am," he ducked his head as he made sure the bike's kickstand was in place. "I...uh…"_

"_Emily didn't come with you? Is everything okay?" her voice took on a worried tone, and Steve realized this wasn't going well._

"_No! No, everything's fine. I just, uh, I was wondering if I could speak to you and Mr. Harthorn." She raised an eyebrow, and Steve once again marveled at how many of her expressions Emily had adopted. _

"_Matt stayed late at the office, but I can give him a call and hurry him along," she said with a nod. Her eyes ran the length of him before shaking her head, "I can't believe you rode that thing all the way from New York City. You should have taken Em's car - that's what she kept it for!" _

"_I know," he grinned as she pulled him into a hug. "But it was a nice ride." _

"_You're gonna kill yourself on that thing," Caroline warned as she walked back into the house. Steve kicked off his shoes and lined them against the mudroom wall before following her into the kitchen, not bothering to remind her that he'd ridden a worse bike all across Europe during the War. "You want something to drink? I've got a couple beers in the fridge, some sodas, milk, water?"_

"_Water's fine," he nodded, glancing around the house. He smiled at the new picture on the fireplace mantel, one of him and Emily taken at her friends, Brock and Mike, wedding in August. That had also been the weekend that she'd introduced him to Garrett's parents when they'd stopped for a short visit on their drive through Virginia. They'd been nicer than expected, but the meeting had been awkward - even though they'd walked out with their blessing._

"_Make yourself comfortable," Caroline smiled, nodding to the living room, "and I'll give Matt a call to hurry him along. And I'll get Em's room ready for you. You're okay with pot roast for dinner, right?" _

"_Please, don't go through the trouble," Steve said, "I'm going to head back tonight."_

"_Steven," she said, leveling a very motherly gaze on him, "if you think I'm going to let you jump back on that death trap and drive another five hours tonight, you've got another thing coming. You're staying the night. Now, pot roast okay with you?" _

"_Pot roast sounds amazing." With a curt nod, Caroline picked up her cell phone and walked down the hallway towards the bedrooms as Steve settled on the couch. _

_Forty minutes later, Matthew Harthorn was home and giving Steve an almost resigned look as he shook his hand. Caroline elbowed her husband in the ribs before telling him to get washed up for dinner and handed Steve some bowls and nodded to the silverware drawer._

_Over dinner they asked him how things were in New York, how Emily was, and Caroline tried to wheedle out a confirmation that they'd both come up for Thanksgiving. Other than a quick, "How's work?", they didn't discuss his job at all. _

"_So what brings you to Massachusetts?" Matt asked as they finished dinner. "No aliens, I hope." Steve, who had been gathering up his dishes, froze. With an encouraging wink, Caroline took them from him and deposited them in the kitchen sink before coming back to her seat. _

"_No, not aliens." After clearing his throat and swiping his sweaty palms on his jeans, Steve said, "Sir, Ma'am, I'd like your permission to ask your daughter to marry me." _

_Caroline slapped her hand on the table and gave an excited whoop. "Yes! My answer is hell yes. Everyone's gonna be so jealous when they find out that Captain America's my son-in-law." _

_Steve tried not to smile as she beamed at him. Matthew was looking down at his water glass but raised his eyes and sighed when he felt two pairs of expectant eyes on him._

"_Let's take a walk." _

"_Matt," Caroline snapped. "_Dites juste oui déjà.Em est en amour avec luiet -_"_

"_I know," he said while standing. "I know. I just want to talk to him before giving him my answer." His wife rolled her eyes as Steve stood as well._

_He didn't say anything until they were down the road from the house and turning onto the main street. While Matt was staring at the ground, hands shoved in his pocket to protect against the chill of the October air, Steve was sweating._

_Given their past conversations, he'd gone into it knowing that Emily's father was going to be the one to convince. Matthew had made his feelings well known, often to the detriment of his relationship with his daughter, but Steve understood: he couldn't assure him that Emily would be safe._

"_Sir - " he started, but Matt waved a hand before coming to a stop. _

"_You see that phone pole?" Matt asked, pointing across the street. His eyes flickered up to meet Steve's, who nodded, a confused look on his face. "That's where this all started, I suppose."_

"_Sir?" _

_A wry smile crossed his mouth before he shook his head. "That's where Emily told me she wasn't going to go to law school." _

"_Oh," Steve said, glancing at the pole again. _

"_We musta looked like a bunch of lunatics, standing on the side of the road screaming at each other, but," he shrugged, "I didn't want my little girl to give up her dream. You know, she had told me from the time she was six that she was gonna be a lawyer." _

"_Yeah?" Emily had told him this before, but Steve didn't feel the need to let him know that._

"_Yup. Said she was going to join me at the firm, and that when she became a partner she was going to kick me out of my office and decorate it with Lisa Frank and make it look like Barbie's Dream House." _

_Steve chuckled. _

"_And then, when she was just about to finish her degree, she came home and told Caroline and me that she'd changed her mind. She wasn't going to go to Boston College. She wanted to get a degree in history because she'd found this comic book and couldn't find anymore information about this guy, _Captain America_," he rolled his eyes. "And I was mad. My little girl was throwing away everything because of a comic book?" _

"_So when she came home for the semester, I tried to convince her that she still wanted to go to law school. I'd at least gotten her to defer her admissions at BC - which was a fight in and of itself - and she worked as a paralegal for me for a semester. But...right over there is where she told me that she wasn't cut out for law school, and that she'd flunk out if I made her go because she didn't care about settling divorces or transferring property rights.. she cared about finding out about this Captain who was a real person that history forgot." _

"_And when I saw her in North Carolina, I knew she'd made the right choice. Em was happier than I'd ever seen her: new school, teaching, met a guy. Well…You know what happened with that."_

"_I do," Steve nodded. _

"_And then she wasn't my little girl anymore. She was this person who just sat there all day and started crying and screaming about how unfair life was." Under the streetlight, Steve could see the gleam of tears in the older man's eyes. "I...I thought I was going to lose her forever. But then Caroline got her to talk to a therapist, and the meds started working, and I saw a bit of her coming back. We were terrified when she went back to school, scared that she was going to go crazy living in their house, but she insisted. Something about the good memories outweighing the bad." Matt shook his head and turned to face Steve._

"_My little girl's not a little girl anymore. Now she's this woman who doesn't need my approval or permission to do what she wants. So no, I'm not giving you my permission to marry my daughter, because she - and you - don't need it. But as long as you can promise me that you'll take care of her and try to keep her away from whatever it is that you do, I'll give you my blessing." _

_Matthew Harthorn extended his hand and gave him a smirk. "Thank you, Sir," Steve said, shaking his hand. "And I'll do my best."_

"_I know. And stop calling me 'sir'. It's Matt, or Dad if you feel comfortable with it - it took Lauren a while. Now," he reached up to clap Steve on the back. "Let's head back before Caroline sends out a search party or decides to kill me. And if she does decided to kill me, I'll yank my blessing if you don't at least try and stop her." _

_Steve chuckled. "I didn't bring my shield, but I'll see what I can do." _

"_Good man. You thought about how you're gonna propose?"_

"_Yeah. I...uh… I've got a plan." _


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

_What would I do without your smart mouth?_

_Drawing me in, and you kicking me out_

_You've got my head spinning, no kidding, I can't pin you down_

_What's going on in that beautiful mind_

_I'm on your magical mystery ride_

_And I'm so dizzy, don't know what hit me, but I'll be alright_

_My head's under water_

_But I'm breathing fine_

_You're crazy and I'm out of my mind_

'_Cause all of me_

_Loves all of you_

_Love your curves and all your edges_

_All your perfect imperfections_

_Give your all to me_

_I'll give my all to you_

_You're my end and my beginning_

_Even when I lose I'm winning_

'_Cause I give you all of me_

_And you'll give me all of you, oh_

_All of You by John Legend & Lindsey Stirling_

* * *

Their morning started earlier than either one cared for it to.

It was nearly 2:00 AM when JARVIS alerted them to a minor explosion on the R&D floor. Groaning, Steve got up and took the elevator down, telling JARVIS to have Pepper stay in the penthouse.

"Be back in a bit."

"Mmhmm," Emily hummed, rolling over and pulling her pillow closer. "Be careful."

"I will," he promised before kissing her shoulder.

An hour later, he was back, bringing the acrid smell of smoke with him. "Shower," she said when he moved as though to get back in bed.

"But I'm exhausted."

"Shower." He cursed under his breath before padding over to the bathroom.

"Better?" Steve asked ten minutes later, slipping under the covers and curling around her. She frowned slightly at his damp chest on her back but let out a contented sigh.

"Yeah. Everything okay?"

"Engineering students," he muttered, pulling her close.

OOO

They slept in late that morning and then had a lie-in - Steve generally wasn't one for lazy mornings, but he would be persuaded relatively easily. Over a post-coital cup of coffee, they looked at the rentals their realtor sent; there were a few that they agreed to look into but Steve wasn't really sold on any of them. He peppered her neck and shoulders with kisses until she finally set the computer aside and gave into his attentions.

Once they'd finally gotten out of bed, Em set up in the living room to get some work done on her article while Steve tried to find something on TV to watch. When nothing caught his attention, he set the remote aside and watched Emily instead.

She was sitting cross legged at the table wearing one of his shirts that was long enough to hide her shorts. Tendrils of hair had escaped the messy bun and she kept swiping them behind her ear before adjusting her glasses as they continued to slip down her nose. Chewing her bottom lip, Em flicked the highlighter back and forth, marking something on the page she was reading every once in a while before switching to the pen and writing in the margins.

"You're staring," Em said as she put a finger on the page to mark her place before looking up at him.

"I'm admiring," he corrected, sitting up and smiling at her. A faint blush spread across her cheeks as she ducked her head down and returned her attention to the papers in front of her.

"Admire all you want, but I'm getting some work done today." Chuckling, he stood and walked over to her, leaning over the back of her chair to whisper in her ear.

"What if I helped out? Told you about the WAC's I met?"

"Well," she said, tilting her head to the side as Steve kissed her neck. "I can't exactly cite that conversation unless you'd be willing to sit down and do an interview. And that," Steve tipped her head back and kissed her, "that requires an internal review board because I'd be including human subjects." He slid his hand down her chest and flicked apart the shirt to cup her breast. "And transcription," Em sighed as he thumbed her nipple, "and choosing a type of narrative analysis. And co-" her breath hitched as he left sucking kisses on her throat. Steve shifted behind her, pulling the chair further back before his free hand wrapped around her and tugged on her knee so that her feet fell to the floor. "Coding and finding themes-"

"And more work," Steve said before gently biting her earlobe. "But right now, I'm bored and I've been missing my girl. And I can think of a good way of managing both of those issues."

"Don't say the 'b' word!" Emily moaned as he continued to pluck her nipples and slid his hand across the band of her shorts, fingers dripping below. She tilted her head back and looked at the ceiling as though expecting a call to assemble to ring out.

"It's not going to - " He paused, hearing the whirling of the elevator.

"Steve?" Em asked, wrapping her hand around the back of his neck and drawing his attention back to her.

"Fuck," he groaned, quickly removing his hands and tugging the front of her shirt closed. They both looked at the elevator as it dinged and the doors opened.

"Hello love - and Steve," Carter Falsworth said as he strode out.

"Worst. Timing. Ever," Emily groaned, "Are you here to make him go to work?"

"What? No," the agent said, frowning slightly. "Should I be?"

"No," Steve sighed before looking down at his girl. "See? I can say 'bor-'"

"Shhh!" she hushed him. "Let's not jinx it. Cart, did you need something in particular? We were kind of in the middle of something." Steve rolled his eyes before turning his attention back to Carter.

"What's going on?"

"I just wanted a debrief on how things went," Carter said, eyes darting between them. "I hadn't heard anything and…"

"Go have your secret spy talk somewhere else," Em ordered. "Some of us are working."

"It's the weekend - you shouldn't be doing any work."

"You literally live at the office when you're on the Helicarrier," she retorted.

"That's not the point. You should -"

"To each their own," Steve interrupted, knowing that those two could bicker for hours if left to it. He leaned down to kiss Em, but hovered just above her lips. "Later," he promised.

"Make sure it's a short talk then, Captain," she smirked. He chuckled and kissed her before straightening up.

"Come on. I'll give you the debrief."

"So?" Carter asked once alone in Steve's rarely used office.

"I got it," he grinned.

"And her dad?"

"He said that I didn't need his permission," Steve shrugged. "But he seemed kind of happy. Gave me his blessing and told me I could call him Matt or Dad." Carter let out a low whistle and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Wow. Never though Matthew Harthorn would ever give you his blessing."

"Thanks," Steve smirked.

"You know what I meant. So, when are you going to do it?"

"Tonight." Grinning, Carter crossed his arms over his chest and hung his head, laughing to himself.

"Now here's hoping she says yes," he teased. "And on that note, I leave you to it. Best of luck, Cap."

"Thanks."

OOO

"Almost ready?" Steve asked, glancing at his watch. While he'd already showered and gotten dressed for dinner, his girl was still taking her time. Emily stepped out of the closet in her jeans and bra, a white shirt hanging from one hand, and rolled her eyes.

"You said I had half an hour."

"It's been twenty minutes," he sighed.

"Which means I have ten minutes left. You act like you've got a hot date or something," she smirked. He chuckled and laid back on the bed, eyes tracking her as she stepped into the bathroom. Music was playing softly, and Steve could hear her singing under her breath and figured she was dancing along.

"Three minutes," he called out as her time ticked away.

"Sir, yes sir!" she sassed, stepping out of the bathroom. His eyes raked over her, taking in the skinny jeans and button up as she adjusted the red belt wrapped around her waist. "Help me with the sleeves?" Em asked, walking towards him and extending an arm.

He quickly rolled both sleeves for her before she slipped on her red heels and jewelry. "You look nice," Steve said as he held out the leather jacket he'd bought her for riding on the bike.

"You don't look so bad yourself," she smiled, taking in his dark wash jeans and tucked in navy button up. As she turned to face him while untucking her hair, he pulled her close by the lapels of the jacket and leaned down to kiss her, tasting her lipstick as he ran his tongue along the seam of her lips.

"We don't have to go to dinner," Em said when they'd broken apart. Standing on her toes and wrapping her hand around his tie, she kissed his top lip before sucking his lower between her teeth. "Can order in."

As much as he was tempted to do just that, Steve shook his head and licked his lips. "No, we've gotta go."

"Gotta, huh?" she asked, tone teasing as her eyebrows shot up. When he quirked an eyebrow right back at her and gave his most unimpressed look, Em reached up and tried to wipe away her red lipstick from his lips. She sighed as he stepped out of her grasp and pulled on his coat, "Fine, fine. Italian it is."

Unwilling to drive, Steve lead them to the subway and they caught the train to Broadway. They didn't talk much, and she elbowed him in the stomach when he shot a glare at a man on the train who didn't get up and offer Em his seat. Instead, she held onto him as he grasped the bar overhead.

If she realized where they were going, Emily didn't say anything. Once they were outside of the restaurant, however, she laughed. "Isn't this where we went before going to _Wicked_?"

"Yeah," he grinned, flushing slightly. They had to wait a while for a table to clear, but eventually they were seated close to the window. Teasing, he asked, "You gonna let me pay for you this time?"

"We'll see about that," she winked before taking a sip of her wine. "Are you going to have sticker shock?"

"Well," he said, giving her a very serious look, "this is pretty expensive. We could have gone to an automat for a lot cheaper than this." She laugh before biting her lip as they replayed their conversation from over a year ago.

After finishing their third glass of wine, Steve settled the bill and they hit the streets again. When he offered her his arm, Emily took it and hugged herself close to him as he led them back towards the subway station. But when she tried to go to the stairs leading to the station, he tugged her towards the street and flagged down a taxi. It took a few tries, but finally one pulled over.

"Where to?" the heavily accented man asked as Steve held the door open for Em and then slipped in beside her.

"Stark - "

"No," he shook his head and reached through the divider to hand the man a slip of paper. "We're heading to this address."

"Care to fill me in?" Emily asked as they pulled away from the curb.

"Nope," he grinned.

"You're not gonna tell me where we're going?"

"It's a surprise."

"I don't like surprises."

"Too bad," he chuckled before cupping her cheek and turning her to face him. With another kiss, he said, "And yes you do."

"Sir?" Em said, turning her attention to the driver. "Where are we going? Sir?"

"Shouldn't take too long," the driver said after a long pause. As they drove out of Manhattan, Steve undid his tie and cleared his throat.

"Do me a favor?" he asked, pulling the black strip of fabric from the collar of his shirt. He unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt and asked, "Let me put this over your eyes?"

"Seriously?"

"Humor me."

"Ok, what's going on?" she asked, although she had a pretty good idea if the butterflies in her stomach were an indication to go by.

"Please, Emily?" After a moment she rolled her eyes and removed her glasses, folding the stems carefully. Once she'd placed them in their case, she twisted so that he could drape the tie over her face.

"Don't blame me when you can't get the eyeshadow out," she sighed. Steve chuckled and covered her eyes, tying the knot just enough so that it wouldn't slip off.

Steve turned her back to face him and tugged the tie down further to make sure that she couldn't peek. "Too tight?" he asked. She shook her head and pressed her lips together as he ran his thumb across her cheek. "I love you, Emily Rose."

"_Je t'aime aussi_. Even if you are weird sometimes." He grinned and tilted her head up to kiss her as she hands awkwardly groped to find him. After adjusting the tie again, Steve reached across her and grabbed the seat belt, gently nudging her so that he could buckle her in. When he turned to get his own seat belt, she reached for him, uncomfortable with not at least having a hand on him when she couldn't see where they were going.

OOO

"I don't like this," Emily said twenty minutes later. "Can I please take it off?"

"We're almost there, I promise" Steve assured her, lifting her hand to press his lips to her knuckles. He'd been running his thumb along her Claddagh ring while staring out the window, ducking to see if he recognized any street signs. She took away her hand and wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans, sighing heavily. When she tilted her head back and attempted to subtly move the tie, he chuckled.

"I feel like we should have a sign in the window that says 'Not being kidnapped' or something. Because if you weren't _you_, this would feel like a bad set up."

"Thanks," he smirked before turning his attention back to the window. When his phone buzzed, he frowned.

"Was that mine or yours?" Blindly, she reached for her purse before he could answer.

"Mine." As she settled back in the seat, Steve pulled out his phone and looked at the text message. It was from S.H.I.E.L.D. telling him to call in. Frowning, he ignored it and slipped the phone back into his pocket - whatever it was, it could wait.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, just Tony," he lied, glancing out the window again and felt his heart start to beat fast. "Right there! That's it!"

Rather than answer, the driver slowed and stopped beside a car. Steve quickly swiped his credit card to pay the fare as Em unbuckled the seat belt and retrieved her bag before groping for her door handle. Instead, he gently pulled her so that she slid across the seat towards him.

"Can I take this off yet?"

"One more minute," he said, helping her from the car. As soon as the door was shut, the taxi sped off. "Watch your step."

"Funny," Emily smirked. Steve stepped behind her and gently led her towards the sidewalk, wrapping an arm around her waist and lifting her when she neared it so that she wouldn't stumble. Once safe on her feet again, Steve took a deep breath and tried to steady his shaking hands.

"Ok, close your eyes." After a beat he asked, "Are they closed?"

"Yes, _mon coeur_, they're closed." She shoved her hands in her coat pockets and bit her lip, trying to the fact that she was shaking hidden.

Steve cleared his throat and muttered, 'Okay' before reaching up to undo the knot. Once the silky material had slid off her face, he covered her eyes with his hand just to make sure she wasn't peeking. Laughing, Em reached up and wrapped her hand around his wrist.

"Can I look?" Taking another breath, he slid his hand down to wrap around her shoulders, pulling her back against his chest.

"Okay, open your eyes."

Emily did as he said and blinked to clear her eyes. They were standing under a streetlight on a tree lined sidewalk, directly in front of a brownstone row house. "Steve?"

"Hmm?" She could hear his anxiety in that hum.

"Where are we?"

"Brooklyn Heights."

"What are we doing here?" His hand tightened briefly on her shoulder before he stepped in front of her. One hand shot to the back of his neck as he looked at her, eyes darting across the indents across her nose and cheeks that his tie had left.

"I...uh...wanted to show you...um...what do you think?" Steve asked, sweeping a hand back towards the house.

"What do you mean, what do I think?" Em frowned. "I mean, it's nice, but what are we doing here?"

"Do, uh, do you wanna go inside?"

"You have the keys?"

"Yeah, our realtor got them for me," he replied, smile slightly nervous. "So, you, uh, wanna?"

"Is this...do you..._here_?" Em asked. "Can we even afford anything in this area? 'Cause, uh, Brooklyn Heights is freaking expensive."

"Just give it a chance, okay?" he pleaded. She looked at him for a moment sighing.

"Sure. I mean, we're here already." Steve beamed and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards the steps. When they were halfway up, he pulled away and bound up the rest of the way, retrieving a key from his pocket. He'd opened the front door and flicked on the lights by the time she reached landing, glasses back on her nose.

"What'd ya think?" he asked, stepping aside for her to go in before him.

"Wow," Em breathed, eyes darting up the stairwell right in front of them, and then down the hallway where she could see the beginnings of a kitchen. She was looking up at the twelve foot ceilings as Steve ushered her into the sitting room, her heels clicking on the hardwood floor. "How _big _is it?"

"It's four bedrooms," he said, standing next to her. "Three and a half baths."

"It's not an apartment?"

"No," he chuckled. She glanced at him before walking further in. Steve watched her as she went, running her fingers along a built in shelving until she stepped into the next room and stopped.

"There's a fireplace."

"There's a couple of them upstairs, too. I thought you'd like the bookshelves."

"Y-yeah," she nodded.

"You okay?" he asked, threading his fingers through hers.

"There is no way we can afford this," Emily sighed. "And I don't really want to look around and pretty much tease myself if we can't live here."

"Emily," Steve smiled, shifting so that he was standing in front of her, "I wouldn't have brought you to someplace we couldn't afford."

"My salary - "

"Relax."

"The rent - "

"Mortgage," he corrected. She jerked slightly.

"You want to _buy_ this place?"

"Yeah. I mean, why rent a place when we can buy one? We don't plan on leaving New York so," he shrugged, "it makes sense."

"Ok, even taking that into account, our combined salaries could barely pay the mortgage. Not to mention the taxes! We'd pretty much live in a great house and eat pasta all the time, and I already did that in grad school and am not anxious to do that again. And my student loan payments! I can't do those and this! It -"

"Sweetheart!"

"No life. No life and being in debt forever. Which, I mean, already doing now with the student loans, but - " Her rambling was cut off when Steve pulled her close and kissed her into silence.

"We can do it. If you like the house, we can get it. Now come on, I want to show you the rest of it."

They went to the kitchen next, and Em took the time to examine the stainless steel appliances and stepped out onto the patio that overlooked the back garden. Grinning, Steve showed her a smaller room on the ground floor and said he'd thought it could be her office; a window opened onto the garden and the opposite wall was covered with built in bookshelves.

The second floor had two rooms on it, including the master bedroom. Steve had to smile as she turned and grinned from the walk in closet, and again when she eyed the garden tub in the ensuite - she was rather fond of the one in their apartment. The second bedroom was decent sized with white shutters over the window, and there was also another smaller room that could be used as office space. The two rooms on the third floor were the same size, and Steve suggested the 'office space' room could be a playroom in the future.

After exploring the basement, they settled in the kitchen. Em was leaning against the island and looking around, a pensive look on her face. "So?" Steve asked.

"Hmm?" she hummed.

"What do you think?"

"It's gorgeous but - "

"We can afford it."

"Steve -"

"No, look," he said, digging into his pant pocket and pulling out his wallet. He withdrew a small sleeve covered in writing, and handed her a debit card. Em cocked an eyebrow and looked down at it.

"What's this? And why is my name on it? I didn't open a new account anywhere."

"I added you to mine. So now my money is your money. And we can afford this place."

"You WHAT?!"

"I added you to my account," Steve said. "So now, we don't have to go 50/50 on a place, because what's mine is yours."

"But...you need my signature to do that," Em said. "And it doesn't change anything. This is _your_ money, Steve. You earned it."

"I took a 67 year nap." She gave him an incredulous look over the rims of her glasses before rolling her eyes.

"Yes, let's just belittle the whole crashing the plane into the Arctic Ocean in order to save the free world from a nuclear disaster and a crazed Nazi hellbent on world domination. That's just a normal day at the office."

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he hooked his fingers through her belt loops and pulled her closer.

"Well…" he smirked, "a little bit of that is." Shaking her head, Em wrapped her arms around his neck and sighed.

"Seriously, you shouldn't have done it. The bank account, not the plane crash. Well, yeah, it would have been awesome if you could have avoided that too, but then -" When he cut her off with a kiss, she smiled against his lips.

"So the house…" he said, one hand settling on her waist and the other reaching up to take her right hand.

"It's...it's huge."

"Yeah," he nodded. "I wasn't sure the kitchen was big enough, though." Emily's eyebrows shot up as she looked around; it was bigger than her childhood bedroom. Grinning, he started to sway them, gently nudging her into taking a step backwards and then to the side until she picked up the steps of their dance.

"It's plenty big enough, considering that you're really the only one that cooks."

"Just one more measurement," he smirked, guiding her into spinning out before drawing her back in. "There. Big enough for dancing." Chuckling, Em stepped back into his arms and buried her face in the crook of his neck; Steve rubbed her back as they continued to dance. "Do you like it?"

"Yeah," she said, nodding. "But I don't want it." Frowning, he pulled away slightly, just enough so that Emily looked up at him.

"If it's the cost -"

"It's not the money...well, not just the money. This house," she shrugged, "it's too much. You and me? We'd rattle around in here."

"But -"

"Just look at how much space we don't use in the Tower." Their floor had five spare bedrooms that they didn't use for day-to-day purposes. Everything from Emily's apartment was stored back there; Pepper had actually gotten a bit mad that she was paying for a storage locker when they had all that space. "And, to be honest, this isn't us. This is...this is Tony and Pepper if they didn't have the Tower."

"Okay," Steve nodded.

"I'm sorry, babe," Em sighed, pulling them to a stop. She reached up and ran her hand through his hair before standing on her toes and pressed her lips to his, trying to make up for shooting down his idea. "You probably had this all planned out and -"

"Don't be sorry, Sweetheart," he said, shaking his head. "I just want to give you everything you deserve. And if this isn't what you want? We can keep looking."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely."

"You're not mad?"

"No," Steve chuckled. "I'm not mad. It would h-" he cut off as his phone buzzed again.

"Tony again?" she asked as he plucked it out of his pocket and sent the call to voicemail. He jerked a nod as he frowned at the screen; his team had been put on stand down for a week, so there was no reason for S.H.I.E.L.D. to be calling him. But when Emily tried to peek at the phone to see what was bothering him, Steve shoved it back into his pocket and pulled out his tie.

"So how about we get out of here and grab a drink," he said, flipping up his collar and draping the tie across the back of his neck, "and we can talk about what we want to look for in a house?" He looked down and rebuttoned his shirt before adjusting the tie length as Emily ran her hands up his chest, pushing aside his jacket as he quickly tied the simple knot. When he was finished, her hands traveled further up and turned the collar back down for him before adjusting his tie so it was centered.

"Sure." With a nod, they walked to the front door, turning off the lights as they went. Steve shut and locked the door as Em adjusted her coat before taking his offered hand. Going down the step in heels took a bit more concentration, and they weren't even a quarter of the way down before he swept her off her feet and carried her down the rest of the way, her laugh echoing on the quiet street.

OOO

Another taxi ride later, Steve had his arm wrapped around Emily's shoulders as they strolled along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. He was telling her about the uproar the original Brooklyn-Queens expressway caused in '42 when the plans were released; it had called for part of the newly rebuilt courthouse to be torn down. "Bucky said I should'a tried to get on the job," he shrugged. "Said I could probably have drawn up a better plan."

"I can see it now," Em said, raising hand slowly waving it in front of them, "Steven G. Rogers: Urban Planner/Architect extraordinaire." Laughing, she hip checked him before pulling away and moving towards an empty row of benches. Steve followed and sat beside her, stretching his legs out as she toed off her heels and let out a contented sigh while flexing her toes.

"You should have worn some other shoes."

"I would have," she said, jabbing him in the side before curling closer to him and drawing up her legs, ankles hanging over the edge of the bench, "had I known that we were doing more than just going to dinner, Mr. 'I'm Craving Italian'." Grinning, he pressed a kiss into her hair before curling a hand around her knees and drawing her into his lap, her bare feet dangling above the ground. He resolutely ignored the phone buzzing in his pocket.

They were quiet for a long time, just looking out over the harbor at the Lower Manhattan skyline and listening to the cars below them. "Look," Em said, pointing off to the left and grinning. "It's your girlfriend."

"Ha," he barked, looking over at the lit up Statue of Liberty. "Funny."

"You know, being the 'Sentinel of Liberty', you being with Lady Liberty it makes sense."

"The what?"

"Did you miss that new nickname? Some news organization slapped that one on you after your last public escapade. It might have been Fox News." Steve rolled his eyes; for some reason, that news organization was fond of using him as an example of Conservative values that he didn't actually agree with.

"You're the only Lady Liberty in my life, Doll." Emily threw her head back and laughed, pressing a hand to his chest.

"Oh god, you're so cheesy it's adorable. And I'm sure Fox would _love_ how Captain America and his girlfriend talk about how Communism and Socialism work in theory but not practice."

"Well, Steve Rogers does," he shrugged. "Captain America is decidedly not political according to Senator Brandt."

They fell back into silence for a while as Steve twirled a strand of Emily's hair between his fingers, trying to work up his nerve. Taking out a tank single-handedly was less intimidating than asking a simple, four-word question that he was relatively confident of what the answer would be.

"Emily -" he started.

"If we -" she sighed.

"Go ahead," Steve nodded, clearing his throat.

"I was just gonna say that if we stay out here much longer, I'm going to fall asleep." Even as she said it, she nuzzled close enough so that Steve could feel her eyelashes tickle his neck when she blinked.

"Can't have that," he chuckled. "You want to head home?"

"In a bit," she said. "I think I saw a park back there, and I think we're overdue for a good 'act like a kid' time."

"Yeah?"

"Definitely," she nodded, shifting in his lap so that she was on the bench again. His arms tightened around her briefly before he let go so that she could retrieve her shoes. With a slight frown, she slid her heels back on and rested her hand on his thigh. "Wanna go see if they have swings?"

"In a minute," Steve gulped. "I, uh, wanted to talk to you about something."

"Sure. What's up?" Emily asked, turning to face him. Smiling nervously, he reached out and brushed her hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear.

"I love you so much, Emily Rose, and I think you're the best thing that ever happened to me." Discreetly, he reached into his pocket and wrapped his hand around the small, velvet covered box.

"I love you too, _mon coeur_," Em smiled.

"I don't know what I would have done if I didn't have you when I woke up. You made all of this so much easier than I would've thought possible. And I know things haven't always been easy between us, but we always seem to find a way back to each other. You're the most beautiful, _stubborn_, smartest woman I've ever met." Emily let out a breathless laugh as her cheeks flooded with color; her heart was beating fast, and those damn butterflies were back. "And I always look forward to coming home to you. I love how passionate you are about your work, and how you are with your family, and I even love when you're cursing at me in French because you think I can't understand what you're saying. But I'm saying this to you right now: _tu est l'amour de ma vie._"

Emily blinked back tears at his perfect French. "You're the love of my life, too, _Monsieur Rogers_."

"Emily Rose Harthorn," Steve said, shifting on the bench and lowering himself to one knee while pulling his hand out of his pocket. "Will yo-"

"Captain Rogers!"

They both jerked and Steve shot to his feet, shoving the box back into his pocket as he placed himself between Emily and the person hurrying towards them.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Wow guys, I'm overwhelmed by the response. Definitely didn't expect to open up my inbox and have 120+ notifications the first day. Anyways! Once again, major thank you.

I did have someone - CapAmFan - ask if Emily's student Gwen is Gwen Stacy from The Amazing Spider-Man, and the answer is yes. I try to weave in some bits of the Marvel universe throughout the story.

So yes, hope you guys enjoyed this. As always, thanks for reading and let me know what you think!


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Steve frowned as Emily stood as well, trying to look around him at the person approaching. He swept his arm back to keep her behind him as he noticed the others behind the man. "Steve?" she asked.

"Cap!" the man called as he passed under a streetlight. Steve's shoulders slumped when he recognized him, and turned back to face Emily.

"I'm sorry, Sweetheart."

"Ask me," she said, blinking against the tears gathered in her eyes, "finish your question." When he shook his head infinitesimally, she groaned and leaned forward to rest her head on his chest.

"Capta - oh."

"Go away," Em ordered as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Rumlow," Steve growled, his back to the man. "This better be good." He leaned down and pressed his lips to Emily's hair when he felt the front of his shirt getting damp, and whispered 'I'm sorry'.

"HQ's been trying to call you for the last two hours. They need you to come in."

"Tony, huh?" Emily said before clearing her throat. She was feeling a bit of emotional whiplash, and was hovering between sad and rage.

"We're on stand down."

"Something came up. Something that they need _you_ on. It's uh...could we have a word in private?"

With a deep breath, Emily stepped back from Steve and wiped at her face before taking a deep breath. He gave her a sad smile while wiping the smudged mascara under her eye before sighing again and turning to face Rumlow. But when he jerked his head to signal where they could go, Em grabbed Steve's hand and glared at the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. "Since you've effectively ruined our evening, I think I deserve to know why."

"I'm sorry for ruining your night, but with all due respect, Ma'am, it's classified," he replied.

"It'll just take a minute," Steve said, squeezing her hand gently. When they heard someone running towards them and cursing as they came, they turned towards the new arrival. Steve shifted to block Em again while Rumlow's hand moved to the sidearm strapped to his hip.

"I fucking told them it could wait until the morning," Carter snarled as he drew closer.

"Carter?" Em frowned. "What's going on?"

"We need Steve down in DC - "

"Falsworth!" Rumlow snapped.

"She's got the security clearance, Rumlow, so you can shove that attitude up your arse."

"She's a civilian, Fals - "

"She's a S.H.I.E.L.D. consultant.

"Not anymore, she's not," Steve said.

"She on the list of approved consultants, which means she's got the clearance," Carter said, continuing to ignoring the other agent and turning back to Em and Steve. "Anyways. Someone destroyed your grave in Arlington."

"My grave?"

"There isn't a grave for Steve in Arlington." The three men turned to look at Emily, who flushed under their gaze before straightening her posture. "There are zero 'Steve Rogers' buried in Arlington National Cemetery."

"And how do you know that?" Rumlow asked, his tone slightly mocking.

"Because I looked it up when I was collecting information for my dissertation," she snapped, feeling less than forgiving to the man who had ruined her moment with Steve. "The burial records - "

"Were doctored," Carter said, a faint look of pride on his face. "Grandmother and Howard didn't want anyone to know where Steve was buried, as per his instructions. Even without a body, he was given honors in Arlington."

"Steve?" Emily asked, turning to face him.

"He's right. I didn't want a fuss made if I didn't make it back."

"Is there any reason in particular you decided not to tell me that when we've been to Arlington _twice_ in the past year?" her voice rose, heedless of the two bystanders.

"Can we discuss this later?" Steve asked.

"Cap, we've got a quinjet on standby," Rumlow said. "They're gonna drop the team while en route to the Sandbox."

"Okay - "

"Carter said it could wait until the morning!" Em protested.

"Sweetheart, I'm so sorry," Steve sighed, leaning down to press a kiss to Emily's forehead. "Carter, would you make sure she gets home?"

"Sure," Carter nodded.

"The hell am I going home!" Em snapped, stomping her foot. She chose to ignore the smirk Rumlow gave her. "I am _not_ letting you go without me."

"Em - " Carter began before she held up a hand to him.

"You're not going Emily," Steve said. "Carter's going to take you back to the Tower and - "

"Can I have a word with you," Em asked, grasping Steve's elbow and tugging him away from his coworkers; he had the good sense to go with her.

"Swe - "

"No. Listen to me," she cut him off. "This, me going? It's happening. Because one - point of professional pride that I didn't know about your fucking _grave_, two - S.H.I.E.L.D. and _you_ lied to me about it -"

"I didn't lie," Steve snapped, feeling his adrenaline starting to build.

"You lied by omission, Steve. You knew it was there and never once told me about it!"

"And when was I supposed to tell you about it?" he demanded. "Fake gravesites are not exactly a normal conversation topic."

"In case you haven't noticed, nothing about us is exactly normal," she hissed. "We were _there_, Steve. You could have -"

"We were there for _you_," he cut her off. "We were there because you needed to see Garrett, so I wasn't going to make it about me."

"Fine. There were so many times in the beginning, when we were in the conference room going over _everything_ that you could have -"

"It doesn't matter Emily. You're not going." She glared up at him, and he glared right back; it took everything in him not to crack at her tear stained cheeks. When she broke eye contact he thought he'd won for a brief moment.

"Fine. Should we make breakfast plans?"

"What?" he asked, thrown off balance by the sudden change of topic.

"Breakfast plans," Em repeated herself while pulling her cell phone from her pocket. "Founding Farmers on northwest Pennsylvania Ave is pretty good."

"Founding Far - what are you doing?" Steve asked as she fiddled with her phone, the screen reflected on the lenses of her glasses.

"Looking at the red eye flights. It's kind of late to catch the train, but I'm pretty sure I could swing it if - oh look, there's a flight leaving in two hours, so I'd only be three behi- _you give me back my phone right this instant Steve Rogers!" _she snapped when he pulled it from her hands.

"You are not going!"

"You think you can stop me?"

"What about work? What if we're gone longer than just tonight?"

"I call in sick," Em shrugged. "I've got plenty of sick time stored up."

"It's not safe."

"It's a cemetery."

"You remember what happened when we went to Arlington the first time?" Steve hissed, clenching his fists.

"You're going to crack my screen!" Em protested, making a grab for the phone again. "And Blonsky isn't going to - "

"Whoever did this might still be - "

"Would you rather me go with you, or should I just show up in three hours and amble around looking for you instead? Because I'm not fucking leaving there until I find out where _your grave_ is."

"Cap," Rumlow said, tapping his watch.

"In a minute," Steve snapped, still glaring down at his girlfriend who had her arms crossed under her chest. Her pissed off expression let him know that's exactly what she would do - regardless of when she got there.

"We're going in two weeks for the Smithsonian gala-thing. You can't wait until then? I'll show you where the damn thing is," he pleaded.

"To. Night," Em said through clenched teeth, holding out her hand for the phone.

"You know," he grit his teeth, "this isn't how I pictured our night going."

"Join the club. I thought we were just going for dinner. Phone?" Steve huffed and handed it back to her before shaking his head.

"You're so stubborn."

"You said that, somewhere between beautiful and smart," Em smirked. "You know, we could just sneak away and you could finish that question."

"The moment's kind of ruined," he sighed. "If you're coming - "

"I am coming," she corrected him.

"Fine. _Since_ you're coming, there's gonna be a few ground rules."

"I'll agree to them as long as they're reasonable."

"You'll agree to them or you're not going."

"My shiny new credit card would disagree."

"Emily."

"Fine. Rules?"

OOO

There had been a bit of side-eyeing as Em climbed into the SUV with Steve, but it had ended when he simply said, "She's with me."

Carter joined them as the cars pulled up to the airstip and sidled up to Emily. As Steve had put it, "Rule 1: You don't leave Carter's side." And, rather than test her luck at this simple rule, Em followed it when Steve was pulled aside to strategize with Rumlow - whom she found out was the head of the tactical squad Steve usually worked with.

"Thanks for saying I had the clearance," Em said as Carter walked her to the quinjet.

"I wasn't lying," he shrugged. "You do have the clearance for it."

"I thought that got yanked once I left." He glanced around before leaning close enough to whisper in her ear.

"Coulson had me pull a few strings to have HR overlook it. Figured it might come in handy one day."

"I'll have to remember to thank him," she smirked before glancing over at where Steve was standing. He had a go-bag by his feet, and his shield was propped up against the SUV's bumper. "Someone was in our apartment?"

"It was me," Carter said, motioning for her to take a seat towards the cockpit. When she did, he reached for the straps behind her and quickly sorted out the complicated mess. "They wanted him to have the uniform and shield in case we went - which is why I got there after Rumlow. If he'd've waited another few minutes like I asked him to, I could have gotten to you two first."

"You knew what he had planned tonight, didn't you?" Em accused.

"I might have," he smirked, tugging the straps across her shoulders to make sure they were tight. When his eyes flickered down to her left hand before meeting hers, he sighed and shook his head. "What'd you think of the house?"

"It's nice, but too much."

"Thought so. But he was all about making sure you 'got the house that you deserved'." Em shook her head as Carter sat beside her and began to strap himself in. Once in, he reached for her left hand and threaded their fingers together before gently squeezing. "Sorry your night was interrupted."

"Thanks." Em blinked against the tears welling in her eyes. The last thing needed was for Steve to see her crying - he might use that as an excuse to get her to go home.

There was the familiar whining of the engines warming up as the tactical team boarded the jet. Steve and Rumlow were the last to board, and they strode towards the cockpit, eyes sweeping over the assembled team. When Steve's eyes landed on Carter, the agent gave a curt nod before jerking his head towards Em. "We're good."

Steve set his bag and shield on the seat opposite them before turning and facing her again. "You sure you wanna come?" he asked while tugging at the straps and making sure they were correctly done.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily," she said, raising an eyebrow. Shaking his head, he leaned forward and whispered in her ear. Carter tactfully looked away.

"I'd kiss you right now if we weren't in front of my team."

"Treat me like you would any other consultant," she nodded.

"Any other consultant wouldn't be on the jet," he replied before pressing a kiss to her cheek. Even that small action drew a catcall from one of the men. "I'll make up for tonight," he promised her.

"I know," Em nodded before placing a hand on his chest and gently pushing him away. "Now we're doing professionalism - Dr. Harthorn and Captain Rogers."

"Yes, Ma'am," he smiled before turning and retrieving his bag. As they began to taxi down the runway, Steve disappeared into the bathroom.

"I don't envy him trying to put on the suit in that loo," Carter smirked, nudging Em with his knee.

OOO

"We're ten out, Cap," the pilot said over the intercom. Em, who had closed her eyes in the gloom of the jet, sat up and shifted as much as her restraints would let her. There was a flurry of action as those that had stayed strapped down undid their buckles and gathered their gear. Even Carter - who had moved away to speak to Rumlow - had dropped the playful expression he usually wore around her and was in 'Agent Falsworth' mode.

"Here," Steve said, reaching to undo the clasp of her safety harness.

"Thanks," she sighed when he held out a hand to help her to her feet. She took a moment to appreciate how tight his new uniform was when he turned and rummaged for something above his seat.

"You ever jump before?" one of the tac team members asked as he put a comm. in his ear.

"Sorry?" Em asked, leaning closer to him.

"You ever jumped before?"

"Jumped?" His eyebrows shot up as he laughed.

"It's a rush, Doc. Just hold onto your purse." It took a minute for the realization to dawn.

"We're not landing?!"

"No," Steve said, drawing her attention back to him. "We're jumping. You still wanna go?"

"Kinda late to change my mind now, isn't it?" Em snapped.

"You can always stay on the plane, get a transport back to New York tomorrow, and be back at work on Monday," he offered. And while that offer was tempting, especially given that she didn't especially like heights, she shook her head. "You sure?"

"I'm going, _Captain_. And that's that."

"I like her," Rumlow grinned as he joined them. "It's nice to know that even Captain America has to answer to the boss lady." Steve frowned as a smirk tugged at the corner of Em's mouth before she schooled her expression. It wasn't exactly professional or nice to berate Steve in front of the men he worked with - she would have been pissed if he did that to her in the history department. Seeming to realize his faux pas, Rumlow cleared his throat, "This is the smallest we've got."

"Thanks," Steve said, taking the offered bulletproof vest and setting the tandem parachute harness he'd retrieved back onto the jump seat.

"I'll do the run down," he nodded before rejoining the group gathering at the tail end of the plane.

"Sorry," Em said. Steve shook his head sighed while undoing the buckles and velcro straps at the sides of the vest.

"This is gonna be heavy," he warned her. "You might want to take off your glasses and belt, too."

"Okay." She rummaged in her purse for her glasses case, carefully folding them with shaking hands before returning them to the bag, the red waist belt tossed in beside it. When she turned back to face Steve, he was studying you.

"I'm serious, Sweetheart. You don't have to do this."

"I...I'm going to. It's something to cross off the bucket list, right?" She gave him a weak smile while pulling her hair back into a ponytail. He grabbed Em's bag and slung it across her chest, positioning it so that it hung low on her hip.

"If you say so," he smirked before lifting the vest over her head. She let out a small huff as he lowered the weight onto her shoulders. "Good?"

"I guess," she said, rolling her shoulders. Steve chuckled before pulling the velcro tight across her stomach and adjusting the buckles so that they kept the vest close. He tugged on it a bit, rocking her forward on her toes as he tested the fit before deeming it acceptable.

After retrieving the harness from his seat, he knelt down in front of her and arranged the straps by her feet. Once finished, he tapped on her ankle and guided her into the appropriate position. Em steadied herself on the leather bands that wrapped around his shoulders, forcing herself to take deep breaths as he pulled the harness up her legs and motioned for her to put her arms through. "We good?" he asked again while going up the clasps around her hips and waist.

"I'm just glad I didn't wear a dress," she smiled, false bravado sneaking into her voice. Steve circled her, making sure everything was in place. He ran his eyes down her front again, her shape obscured by so much black material, before nodding.

"Looks good," he said, a strained smile crossing his lips. "Now, remember the rules." Em nodded. "Tell me what they are."

Rather than give a snide answer, Em tilted her chin up, and recited them. "Stay with Carter; do whatever you say; no wandering off; if one of your team says to move, I move; stay out of the way -"

"And?" Steve prompted.

"And if you get a bad feeling about any of it, I'm out of there, no ifs, ands, or buts about it."

"Right," he nodded before reaching above her head and pulling down a pair of jump goggles. "Here, put these on." Em did, resting them on top of her head rather than putting them over her eyes.

"Maybe," Em said, ducking her head. "Maybe after all of this, we can go to the museum? Like we were going to last month? If we have time, I mean."

Steve frowned at the memory. They'd been sitting at the airport gate, Em excitedly describing what the display looked like and how she'd spent a few weeks rummaging around the Smithsonian Vaults hunting for items to use, when his phone had rung and S.H.I.E.L.D. called him in. After a tense discussion, he knew that he had to go. Emily hadn't even looked at him when he kissed her cheek and headed to the office while she continued on to DC for work.

Steve cupped her face and gently kissed her, "We'll make time."

"Approaching the drop zone," the pilot announced.

"Ready?" Carter asked, joining them in his own jump gear.

"Yup," Steve nodded, lowering his hands to check her gear over again.

"What about you?" Em asked, smoothing her hands down the front of his uniform, thumb tracing the edge of the star. "Why don't you have a chute on?"

"I'll get mine on," Steve assured her, "Don't worry." He motioned for Em to proceed him to the tail of the jet.

"You know what you're doing, right?" Em asked Carter as he fell into step with her.

"Of course, darling," he smirked. "You're not my first. The loveliest, but not the first."

"I appreciate the attempt, but it's not making me feel better," she said, raising her voice as a beeping started to sound. Carter put a hand on her shoulder to stop her from moving as they reached the periphery of the team.

"Okay," Steve said, making his way through the team to the front. "We're over the drop zone. I'm going first with alpha squad. Bravo, you're taking Falsworth and Emi - Dr. Harthorn. We're not expecting hostilities, but keep an eye out for anything suspicious."

"Comm. check," Rumlow said, wrapping a wire around his ear. "Secure channel seven?"

There was a murmured agreement followed by sounds of guns being checked. Emily shuddered. Steve was putting on his helmet as he walked towards them, nodding to his team as he went.

"We good?" he asked yet again.

"Now comes the awkward part," Carter chuckled, stepping behind Em. "Stand still."

"Not too late," Steve said as Carter did up the straps that would hold them together as they fell.

"I feel like I'm going to throw up," Em admitted.

"Make sure you stay away from me," one of the other team members said, nudging Emily. "'S normal, sweetie. First jump's always the hardest."

"First and last," she assured him.

"Doubt that!" he grinned, raising his voice as the beeping got louder. The overhead lights turned off as red lights popped on. "You'll catch the bug!"

"Not likely!" Em yelled back before giving him a nervous smile. There was a mechanical whining as the ramp began to descend, and the loud rush of wind.

"Everything good?" Steve yelled over her shoulder to Carter.

"Perfect!" he yelled back. Steve nodded before turning his attention to Emily.

"It'll be fun, just like the Cyclone!" he assured her, wiping away a strand of hair that was whipping in the wind before framing her face. "I'll see you on the ground!" Heedless of his team watching, Steve leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, ignoring the wolf whistles and cat calls. When they broke apart, he rested his forehead on hers for a brief second before giving her a wink. After he tapped the goggles on her head to remind her to put them on, Em watched as Steve jogged down the ramp and flung himself off the plane. It was only at the last moment that she realized what he was missing.

A parachute.

"STEVE!" she shrieked.

"He's fine!" the man from before assured her. "Does it all the time!"

"I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL HIM!" she screamed. Those around her started laughing as the alpha team followed Steve out of the plane.

"Ready?" Carter asked his voice warm and loud in her ear.

"No," she said, pulling the goggles down over her eyes. Chuckling, he gently nudged her closer to the ramp where the second team was forming a line. It was awkward moving, like a demented 3 legged race, but they managed.

"Bravo team!" the senior agent yelled. "Go!" One by one the men jumped out of the plane . When half of them were gone, the agent nodded to Em and Carter. "Go, go, go!"

"Here we go!" Carter yelled, wrapping an arm around Em's stomach as they moved to the head of the line. She could see the lights of the nation's capital laid out below them, and the wind pulled at her hair, lashing against her goggles.

"Go!"

"No!" Em shrieked as Carter flung them out of the quinjet.

It was an odd sensation, Emily thought as she watched the jet flew away from them. For a second they plummeted downwards as gravity reclaimed them, pulling them back to Earth at a breakneck speed. They tumbled for a moment before Carter regained control and they were face down. And then…

Then it felt like flying.

Her heart was in her throat when Carter reached around her and broke her hold on the harness, his hands wrapping around her wrists and pulling her arms outward, encouraging her to at least try and enjoy the experience. With the wind velocity, she wasn't if she was shaking or being buffeted by the air. Arms outstretched, Em unclenched her fists and marveled at the wind passing through her open fingers, reminding her of summer roadtrips with the car windows rolled down.

"OK?!" Carter yelled in her ear, releasing his hold to thrust a thumbs up in front of her face. Snidely, she thought about saying there was nothing he could have done if there wasn't, but she held up a thumb anyway while her heart hammered away.

As the ground rushed up to meet them, Emily recognized the Jefferson Memorial and the Washington Monument. It was beautiful from this vantage point.

With a jerk, their feet were back underneath them as the chute deployed. Their descent was slowed considerably, and they were drifting rather than falling. The agents around them were deploying their parachutes as well, their gaze darting from the landing zone below to ensuring that they were far enough away from one another to not be in danger of colliding.

"Copy. We'll circle." Em twisted to try and see whom he was talking to before remembering the comm. "It's a rush, isn't it?" Carter asked, grin evident in his voice as he pulled the chords to steer them in the right direction. "You alright?"

"I think I left my stomach in the jet," Em managed after a long minute.

"At least you didn't throw up," he chuckled.

"Not yet," she muttered darkly. She forced herself to take deep breaths - as deep as the harness and vest would allow - as they drifted. As they got closer to the ground, the agents started to swoop more, going in larger circles as one by one they pulled the chords and started to plummet again, getting closer to the landing site. "How fucked up is -"

"Shh, hang on, open mic," he said. "Want to hear what's happening on the ground." Her cheeks burned slightly, wondering if everyone had heard that she wanted to throw up.

"You're sure? Copy," Carter said after a long stretch of silence. Emily was trying to imagine that she was sitting in a plane, and that's why she had the spectacular view beneath her feet, but it was kind of hard with wind buffeting you. "We're three out, love. I'm going to set us down gently," Carter assured her as they circled closer to the ground. "But watch how they do it."

Em was shaking as she forced herself to look straight down. The stars and moon were bright in the cloudless sky so it wasn't too difficult to see the black chute, but even so she had to squint to track one agent's descent. He moved closer and closer to the ground before landing and swinging the parachute to the side. The other agents moved quickly to pack it and clear the field.

"Two." A few minutes. "We're next." And then finally, "Ready?"

"Just get me on the ground, please." Behind her, Carter rolled his eyes as the other agents joked that Captain America would knock his lights out of something happened to his girlfriend.

"She'll be fine," Steve chimed in.

Carter relayed the message, and the team was treated to her calling her boyfriend a dirty liar and a promise that her mother would kill him if anything bad happened. She also informed him that he owed her another make up date night.

It was over faster than she thought. With the ease of experience, Carter guided them over the landing zone and gently set them down. Em's heels didn't even sink into the ground. In a flash, he swung the chute to the side and a few members of the squad converged to help pack it up as he unclipped them. Once unattached, he removed the chute and, once it was repacked, tossed it into the discarded pile. Emily did the same with her goggles.

"Remember?" Carter asked while pulling his sidearm from the holster on his thigh.

"You're the one that walked away," she sighed, still a bit shaken from the unexpected excitement of the night. "I stayed exactly where you left me. Where's Steve?"

"He's clearing the area with Alpha team," he answered, moving closer and standing beside her; she edged away slightly, eyeing his gun.

"So we're just waiting?"

"Bravo is securing the staging area. Once we get the go ahead, we'll join Alpha and move towards the memorial."

"Memorial?" Em frowned. "I thought you said it was a grave."

"Right," Carter said, putting a hand on her lower back and guiding her into the middle of the ring the agents had created. "Memorial...grave...same thing."

"Two entirely different things," she contradicted, putting her glasses on.

It was another ten minutes before the agents started to move forward. Carter made sure that Emily stayed by his side, occasionally glancing over to check. For her part, Em was looking around, wondering how she could have missed something this huge during her research.

"We're clear," Steve said as they neared the Alpha group; the whole team seemed to relax a bit at those words.

"Alright," Rumlow said. After a quick glance at Steve, he said, "We're fanning out. Create a perimeter."

Smirking slightly, Steve walked towards Emily and nodded to Carter. "How was it?"

"You owe me another date night," she replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "Preferably one where we don't have to jump out of a plane and doesn't require a bullet proof vest. Can I take this off, by the way?"

"Leave it on for now," he said before squeezing her arm gently. "You could have gone home,".

"She enjoyed it," Carter chuckled. "Don't let her fool you."

"Thanks for getting her down safely," Steve said, clapping his shoulder.

"My pleasure. Plans for the approach?"

Back to business mode, he nodded. "We've cleared the area. Not sure what they were after, but it looks like just random vandalism."

"I highly doubt it was random," Carter sighed. "Nothing really is where you're concerned." The glanced at Emily again, who raised an eyebrow.

"Stay with us," Steve said, Captain America creeping into that order.

"Got it," Em nodded before motioning out into the darkness. "Can we…?"

"We're set," Rumlow said, appearing beside them. "You can take your time, Cap."

"Thanks. Ready?"

"Finally," Em teased. Steve shifted the shield to his left arm before motioning her to proceed. Carter fell in step on her other side, so close that her hand kept brushing his as they walked until she crossed her arms over the vest. "So this has been here the whole time?"

"Yeah," Steve nodded. "They put it up after the war. It made sense at the time." She nodded, biting the inside of her cheek.

"Random and off topic, but what did you mean when you said I _think _you don't know what I'm saying when I cursing at you in French? You _don't_ know what I'm saying. I mean, you probably get the gist of it, but not exactly what it is. And who taught you that phrase - _'tu est l'amour de ma vie'_?"

"Really?" Carter smirked.

"No one," Steve replied, ignoring his chuckling friend.

"So did you look it up?" Em pressed.

"_Non, mon amour_," he grinned. "_Je parle francais." _

Emily stopped dead in her tracks, jaw dropping. "What?" she squeaked.

"You heard me right."

"Since...since when?"

"The War."

"Dernier?" Carter asked, seemingly unsurprised by this revelation.

"And Gabe," Steve fought against a grin.

"You...what?! Are you fucking kidding me?"

"You're cute when you're mad," Steve shrugged. "And if you wanted to curse me in French, I wasn't going to say anything about it."

"You…" Em scowled, resisting the urge to yell at him. "I'm not talking to you right now."

"_Ok_, _mon ange_," Steve grinned before sweeping his arm forward. "Shall we?" They continued in silence for a while until they walked towards an oak tree. Two white headstones rested underneath it, and broken pieces of marble littered the ground. Frowning, Emily sped up and ignored the slightly exasperated sigh as Steve lengthened his stride to match her pace.

"_Mon dieu_," Em breathed as she crouched down beside the first stone. It looked as though someone had brought a sledge hammer down on it - a large chunk on the top was missing and a crack spidered out from the gouge to the ground. Her fingers traced fractured 'V' in Steve's engraved name as she exhaled loudly.

"Christ," Carter muttered. "Not very subtle about it, were they?"

"I don't think that was the point," Steve said, looking around the surrounding area. He kept shifting slightly and the leather straps of the shield creaked as he gripped them tightly.

"A word?" Carter asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"Sure," Steve nodded, glancing at Em who has shifted to kneel as she held up her phone to illuminate the stone. "Stay here, okay?" Even though he couldn't see her face, he could tell she's rolled her eyes while waving them away. As the two men took a few steps away, she ran her fingers along the damaged area before moving to kneel in front of the second headstone.

Holding her phone up as a flashlight, she tried to decipher the engraving. This stone was much more damaged and the name nearly obliterated except for the last three letters - 'nes'. After glancing at the dates, she cocked an eyebrow. "I thought Bucky was buried in Brooklyn?" Emily said, turning to sit on her heel as she regarded the two men behind her.

"He wasn't buried," Steve said quietly, hands clasped on his belt glanced between the two and nodded.

"Apparently his Will said Brooklyn, but Gran thought he'd want to be with Steve. Howard Stark paid for the headstone in New York so the military would pay for this one."

"Oh," Em said softly. "That was...kind of him."

"Howard wasn't always the monster Tony makes him out to be," Steve sighed, walking back towards her. Carter circled around to stand behind the headstones, resting his hands on the undamaged portion of Steve's and shrugged.

"According to Gran he wasn't the same after you went down." Carter shrugged as Steve looked at him before crouching to look at his headstone "He was - "

There was a loud 'crack' and Carter jerked to the side before falling to the ground.

"STAY DOWN!" Steve roared, throwing his arm over Emily's head as she screamed.

* * *

**Author's** **Note: **Since today starts my quarter life crisis (aka today's my 25th birthday), I thought I'd update. Just a quick note: having seen CA:TWS 4 times now, I can confidently say that I'll be going more with the comic books as my source material for this story. I really like what they did with the film, I think the comics handled some of the things better. That's not to say everything is going to be disregarded!

I hope you enjoyed this and, as always, thank you for reading and let me know what you think!


End file.
